- April 19, 2024
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If you stop and ask Morgan Baxendale what’s on her mind, there’s a good chance you’ll get a simple answer: golf.
It’s the sport she’s dedicated most of her life to, and it’s the sport that has taken her to heights she dreamed of when she was just a kid.
But there’s one specific thing that’s occupying her mind, and that’s the upcoming 119th U.S. Women’s Amateur at Old Waverly Golf Club in West Point, Mississippi.
In less than two weeks, Baxendale will find herself in the Magnolia State, sharing the course with some of the best amateurs in the world as they take in the almost-weeklong tournament that was one of the United States Golf Association’s first three championships.
“I’m feeling, actually, really excited about it,” said Baxendale, a Windermere resident and junior at Vanderbilt University. “It’s something I haven’t qualified for since I started qualifying for USGA events, and that was probably when I was 12 or 13, and I’m 20 now … it’s a really big confidence boost going forward.”
The golden ticket for Baxendale to get into the tournament was to finish top-six at the qualifier held at Oceanside Country Club (Ormond Beach) back on Tuesday, July 9. Needless to say, she did more than simply qualify.
Thanks in part to seven birdies, and being bogey free until her very last hole, Baxendale finished at 66 (6-under par) to medal — claiming not just first place, but also a spot in the Women’s Amateur.
“Everything seemed to be going in that day, and it might sound weird, but it didn’t come as a shock — I put in a lot of work the last month to month-and-a-half since I’ve been home,” Baxendale said. “It was just really steady, and I tried to make sure my mental game was prepared for that more than anything, because that was my No. 1 goal for the summer — to qualify for the AM.”
Growing up in Pennsylvania, Baxendale always knew that she wanted to be a golfer.
By the time she was 4, she would take to the links with her dad at Northampton Country Club just between Bethlehem and Easton.
“I was very athletic growing up — I’ve always enjoyed sports and I was never about dancing or anything else,” Baxendale said. “ Ever since I picked up a golf club, I couldn’t put it down. I did all these other sports — softball and basketball — and I always went back to golf.”
Her parents took notice and decided that if she was serious, then they’d move to Florida so Baxendale could play year-round. So at the age of 8, she and her family packed up their bags and headed south.
The move would pay off for Baxendale, who battled it out on the greens in tournaments before making her way over to The First Academy — where she played golf all four years for a powerhouse Royals team.
Her success on the team — which included helping the Royals to a state runner-up finish — didn’t go unnoticed from the collegiate ranks.
While many of her fellow teammates decided to stay local and in-state, an offer from Vanderbilt University was too much for Baxendale to pass on.
“It’s a very hard school and I wanted to go somewhere that had it both — I wanted a strong academic school with athletics,” Baxendale said. “It just had the entire package, and I didn’t realize how tough it would be with academics.”
A lot has changed since she first stepped foot on Vanderbilt’s campus as a freshman back in 2017.
Like all collegiate student-athletes, there’s a lot to juggle and it’s a lot different than high school. For the first couple of months in Nashville, Baxendale had to adjust to a schedule that was packed with early-morning workouts at 6:15 a.m., classes and then practice in the afternoons.
Luckily for her, the schedule has grown on her and it’s no longer the nightmare she used to see it as.
“As a freshman I think it was little tiring, because I was doing the same thing everyday, but now it’s enjoyable,” Baxendale said. “I enjoy being busy, and I enjoy getting up and doing things and getting better and stronger. As I’ve progressed through school, I’ve learned to appreciate it.”
And the work done in those workouts and practices paid off on the greens.
As a freshman, Baxendale was named SEC All-Freshman, and All-SEC Second Team following a season that saw her pick up her first college tournament win when she shot -3 at the Brickyard Collegiate. A year later and Baxendale would hit her best finish in the postseason when she finished third in the NCAA Auburn Regionals.
While Baxendale still has two years left at Vanderbilt, that’s not stopping her from looking at the big picture.
The ultimate goal is to eventually make it to the LPGA, but in the meantime she knows she needs to take her own words of advice — which can be difficult sometimes.
As a talented golfer, Baxendale wants to get there now, but she knows that everything happens one step at a time and all she can do is remain calm and focused.
“I’ve rushed things in the past and I try to rush the results, but I’m a true believer in hard work pays off,” Baxendale said. “I see some other girls who I know don’t work as hard and then get the results, and then wonder, ‘Why isn’t that happening to me?’ I’ve learned to just stay patient and trust what I’m doing, and know that there is a reason for what is happening, and that God has a plan for me.”
